According to Science Daily [Science Daily (Mar. 8, 2012)]
“Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have documented a previously unknown biological mechanism in the brain’s most important line of defence: the blood-brain barrier. Scientists now know that the barrier helps maintain a delicate balance of glutamate, a vital signal compound in the brain. The research results have just been published in the scientific journal GLIA.”
What is extremely interesting for those of us who suffer from mental health related difficulties or who love and care for someone who does is that this article then goes on to say,
Glutamate is the most important activating transmitter substance in the brain. Vital in small amounts, it is toxic for the brain if the concentration becomes too high. Noise on the brain’s signal lines can have fatal consequences and is involved in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, sclerosis and schizophrenia. Until now scientists believed that the glutamate balance was maintained by an interaction between different types of cells in the brain:
It really is an interesting article and if correct this discovery could without doubt have far-reaching implications for us.
The article is viewable in full here.
Mental Health Writers' Guild 